Network Rail owns, operates, repairs and develops the railway infrastructure in England, Scotland and Wales. This includes 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. It also manages 20 of the country’s largest stations, from London St Pancras to Edinburgh Waverley.

Woodward Group has been supporting Network Rail with the development its unique training centre – the Birmingham Rail Resilience Hub – which will help prepare transport providers and the emergency services for major incidents on the railway.

The Birmingham Rail Resilience Hub

Located in Aston, the facility has been custom-built to include tracks, trains, level crossings, and other equipment and hazards found on a working railway. A This realistic setting allows for close partnership working between organisations and provides a safe environment to learn and improve together.

Works carried out

As this was a prestigious new client, and with the project operating under tight deadlines, there was absolutely no margin for error.

Led by James Yunus, Installations Manager at Woodward Group, we delivered a comprehensive internal fit-out across two floors and adjacent facilities. On the ground floor, the team installed new stud walls, applied plaster and paint finishes, completed second fix woodwork, and fitted 600×600 ceiling tiles and floor tiles to form a new kitchenette, W.Cs with sinks and showers, a locker room, board room, and office space.

The first floor works included similar construction and finishing elements – stud walls, plastering, painting, second fix joinery, and ceiling and floor tiling – to create a meeting room, BTP office, and locker room.

In addition, the team carried out power and lighting installations for two demo train carriages.

The future of training in the sector

Having been successfully completed, the Birmingham Rail Resilience Hub will be the go-to place to train and develop teams alongside train operators, the police, fire and ambulance services, positioning the West Midlands firmly at the forefront of emergency planning.

We are delighted with the final outcome and look forward to witnessing the benefits the facility will bring to emergency response in the region. Our team attended the official launch event, where we were honoured to be recognised for the part we played in the successful delivery of the hub.